Tattoo Club

Temporary Tats That Are Anything But Tacky

Tattoo Club

Loitering in the corners of gas stations and grocery stores, temporary tattoo machines call for your quarters with images of thorn-wrapped hearts and screaming eagles clutching American flags. But despite your badass wishes, the machine inevitably spits out a sparkly butterfly.

In order to avoid this kind of temporary tattoo buyer's remorse, local illustrator Julia Green has teamed up with Salt Lake City artist Jess Smart Smiley to start the Tattoo Club, which will offer packs of collectable, limited-edition temporary tattoos on a theme. The first one will be monsters.

"We don't know yet how often the packs will be coming out, but it'll be a different theme every time," said Green. "We've discussed food items, circus themes, animals, it's endless."

The tattoos will be designed by artists and illustrators from across the country. The first pack will feature Meg Hunt, Jeffrey Lamm, Ghostshrimp, Bob Flynn, Drew Millward, Chris "Elio" Eliopoulos, Smiley and Green.

"It's part friends and part people we just really super admire and love their work," said Green.

Green and Smiley are ironing out details for the club but plan to sell packs for $20-$25 a pop, which will contain roughly 20 tattoos. The duo is raising funds for the first pack via Kickstarter. The campaign will kick off on Friday, July 13.

"We'll just have the first Kickstarter, and then from there, it should fund itself," said Green.